Wing-T assault gives Cardinals their wings

BELMONT – Head coach Pete Seago knew his Kossuth Aggies would be facing a tough running attack Friday night.
Indeed, Belmont ran the ball from their Wing-T offense, gaining 412 of their 415 yards on the night rushing, on the way to defeating Kossuth 39-0 at Earl Alexander Field.
“They’re a very good team,” said the second-year Kossuth coach, “They run their offense and they do it well.”
The Cardinals, the No. 2 team in the Daily Journal’s Class 3A rankings, relied heavily on running backs Jordan Powell and Cody Sartain.
Powell had 159 yards rushing on 13 attempts and three touchdowns, while Sartain had 104 yards on 13 attempts on the ground and added two scores himself.
“Usually I just try to play hard and do the best I can,” said Powell, “It’s kind of hard not to since we practice hard.”
“We’ve got three good backs we can get the ball too,” Belmont coach Kerry Moody said of Powell, Sartain, and Dustin Poole (8 carries, 37 yards), “We’ve just got to keep building on that aspect.”
Belmont (6-0, 1-0 in Division 1-3A) received the ball to begin the game and drove the ball 72 yards in 12 plays. Powell capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to put Belmont up 7-0 halfway through the first quarter.
Minutes later, Powell was in the end zone again.
The junior found a hole in Kossuth’s defense and 46 yards later scored the Cardinals second touchdown to put them up 13-0.
The score would remain 13-0 until the third quarter, when the flood gates opened for Belmont.
Sartain started the 19 point quarter for Belmont with a 4-yard touchdown run, set up by a Jon Harrison interception.
Just over a minute later, the Cardinals were in the end zone yet again.
Powell’s third touchdown of the night (24 yards) came after a Kase Smith fumble recovery and extended the Belmont lead to 26-0 with 7:29 left in the third quarter.
After Kossuth (3-4, 0-1) turned the ball over on downs, it took the Cardinals 3 plays to drive 61 yards for their third score of the quarter. Sartain’s 28-yard touchdown run extended the Belmont lead to 32-0 after three quarters.
Belmont’s only pass completion went for a touchdown late in the game, as Smith found Austin Ramsey for a 3 yard touchdown for the game’s final points.
The Aggies, the Daily Journal’s fourth-ranked 3A team, were led on offense by quarterback Jay Vanderford, who accounted for 63 yards on the night (36 passing, 27 rushing).